My Brother Says I'm Dangerous

(8)

Hi :)

I've been updating pretty frequently lately, because I'm moving house tomorrow, and the internet and computer thing is going to be pretty dodgy for a couple of days. I will update as soon as possible :)

Thanks xx

<><><><>

Eventually, the food runs out, but I've eaten more than I could handle.

"I can get used to this." Nick laughs, cleaning his plate at the sink. Don't bother.

"Do you need help with your stuff Eva?" Jackson asks. I begin to decline, but Nick cuts me off.

"She would love some." He says, looking at me sternly.

"What about your stuff?" I ask him.

"I took it all up this morning." He says.

"I think now would be a good time to show you around Nick." Keith says, standing up. "Eva, feel free to wander around today, get your bearings. There are plenty of people around to help." I nod, and follow Jackson into the hallway where all my bags are.

"You don't have much stuff." He muses. "Unlike all the other girls in this place."

"Some other stuff is being sent here later." I mutter.

"Mom is going to go nuts taking you shopping." He laughs. "Enjoy that."

"I'm sure it'll be an experience." I roll my eyes, opening my door.

"Want a tour guide for today?" He asks brightly. "I'm free." Why are these people so unnaturally cheerful?

"I'm good." I say. "I'll figure it out." He shrugs.

"Alright." He starts to leave. "I'll be around if you need help." He shuts the door, and I sigh. I will never get used to all this welcoming shit.

I eagerly unpack, getting some proper clothes out, changing out of these ratty jeans. I check my phone, to see a message from Sarah. I'm sure Casey will ring eventually.

I find my smokes, that I had packed in this case, so Nick wouldn't see. I stuff them in my pocket, needing to find a place to smoke them. I'm guessing this is pretty much a smoke free area.
I head down the stairs again, thinking I may as well have a look around.

"Where are you going?" I whirl around to find Beth standing near the door. "Can I come?"

"I'm going to go look around." I tell her. "Stay here, ok?"

"Do you promise to play with Veronica when you get back?" She asks. What the hell do I say now?

"Um, sure. Maybe." I mutter. I get past her quickly, opening the front door, closing it behind me. Now that it's light outside, I can see clearly. It's really sunny, and hot. I'm standing on a wooden porch, that goes around the entire house. It's large, the walls covered in wild flowers, obviously aged. In the distance I can see that this property is huge. Around the house is a dirt path, but with grass surrounding everywhere. It really is quite pretty.

I can see some buildings around the house, but I don't think they're houses, they must be ranch places. I pick a path, and start walking down it. It has to go somewhere.

<><><><>

This place is huge. It's one property, but the ranch house isn't the only house. Along this path are little cottages, that I guess they rent out, or let people stay in. People casually walk down these paths, giving me friendly smiles and waves.

At the end of the path, I can see a typical big red barn. Can this place get anymore cliche? Around the barn is a big clearing, with a few bits and pieces around the place, and bales of hay. A few yards next to the barn, is a big shed, like a garage. Faint music is being played from inside, men tinkering with cars. Nick is probably in mechanic heaven right now.

I decide to look in the barn first, not wanting to deal with Nick's positive attitude. The door is already slightly open, so I slip in, looking around. It smells nice in here. I've never really smelt hay before, it's almost sweet. There are lots of horse stalls, but no horses thank god.

I walk through the barn, looking around. I think there is a loft or something above me, because there is a ladder leading up. I nearly turn around to leave, but I suddenly hear something. Like a weird snorting, and scraping. What is that?

The noise leads me to a stall at the end, near the door. I cautiously look over the stall gate and see a horse on the floor, scraping and moaning. That is a really fat horse.

"What are you doing in here?" I spin around quickly, before I'm grabbed by the arm, pulling me roughly away from the stall. I look up to see a boy, way taller than me.

"Get off me." I say rudely, ripping my arm out of his grip.

"That mare is pissed off and pregnant, there's a reason she's alone in here." He says. "Who are you?"

"None of your business." I spit, heading for the door, but he blocks me off.

"Hey." He says, smiling slightly. "I didn't mean to grab you, I was just concerned for Chestnut. And the existence of your fingers."

"I wasn't going to even get close to your fat mare ." I roll my eyes. "Can I go now?"

"Hey, don't be like that." He grins. "Look, I'm Hunter. You must be Nick's sister. Ev, Evelin, um..."

"Eva." I give up. "Are you done?" He sighs slightly.

"Sure." He shrugs. "Have a nice day. You may want to head back soon, Mom will have lunch ready." More food?

I slip out the door, not wanting to stay around him. I pick another path, wanting to find a place where I can sneak back to, that actually has good reception. This path is a little more wild, and it leads me to the back of the house, to a small hill. Perfect. I spend time there, catching up on Casey's facebook posts of the party they had last night. I must have dozed off a little, as a massive bell sound wakes me up.

What the hell is that? I can see people gradually making their way to the house, so I'm guessing that means it's time for lunch. I don't think I can handle anymore food for awhile. Maybe I'll just stay up here. So that's what I do. Time goes by, and I start to think they won't bother trying to find me.

Oh, I wish I was right.

"Mommy says you should come inside and eat." Beth says, climbing up the hill, panting. "Didn't you know that it's rude and unhealthy to skip a meal?"

"I'm fine here." I tell her.

"She made peach cobbler for desert." She bribes. "And Carter is going to eat it all, and it's not fair. He's not slowing down, even Madison struggled to get a piece, and she's pregnant, and Issac says that pregnancy turns girls into food monsters, and that's why I never want to be pregnant, cause I don't want to get fat, and-"

"Ok, ok!" I stop her, standing up. "I'll come to lunch." She smiles happily, knowing she's won, and skips down the hill. How is a seven year old that manipulative? I follow her into the house, where everyone is eating, almost competitively.

"Hi Eva." Emily smiles warmly at me. "I wanted to make sure you got some food."

"I'm really not hungry." I tell her, sitting down, in the only seat available, in between Camilla and who I'm assuming is Madison.

"Oh." She chuckles. "Your appetite will go up here, everyone gets so hungry."

"Here." Hunter smiles, serving some cobbler for me across the table. "It's pretty good."

"Totally." Carter says through a full mouth.

I'm sick of this.